Edgardo Díaz

Not to be confused with Edgar Díaz.

For the Puerto Rican fencer, see Edgardo Díaz (fencer). For the Argentine footballer, see Edgardo Díaz (footballer).

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Diaz and the second or maternal family name is Melendez.

Edgardo Díaz Melendez (born 1947) is a Puerto Rican music producer. He is the creator of the "boy band" Menudo.^[1]

Edgardo Díaz
Born	1947 (age 75–76) Panama City, Panama
Nationality	Panamanian-Puerto Rican
Known for	Menudo

Early life

Díaz was born in Panama City, Panama to Puerto Rican parents "Nacho" Diaz and his wife "Panchi", Díaz grew up in Miami, Florida.^{[citation needed]}

Career

Díaz moved to Spain after graduating from school and he worked with a group that was widely successful, La Pandilla, which had 4 boys and 1 girl, Mari Blanca, (now a Veterinarian in her home country), but after the La Pandilla members grew up, he moved back to the United States, and created Menudo. Díaz managed Menudo from 1977 to the group's era as MDO.^[2]

At the time he started to manage Menudo, Diaz was also the director of a young-adult oriented band named "Aquamarina".^[3]

In 2004, Díaz signed Daniela Lujan to manage the Mexican singer and actress' career.^{[citation needed]}

Personal

Diaz was once romantically linked to the Puerto Rican actress and singer Millie Aviles.^[4]

Allegations

In 1991, Diaz was accused by an ex-member of Menudo of sexual abuse on a May 1991 Univisión Television Program "Cristina Show". He denied the allegations. Diaz has been the recipient of several sexual crime allegations by former Menudo members, including Ralphy Rodriguez and Roy Rossello, who accused him of sexual abuse during a Brazilian reality show on 21 October 2014.^[5][6]

On 20 November 2014, Rene Farrait, another former Menudo member, told the Telemundo show Suelta La Sopa: "Unfortunately, there are many people in the communications world that really know what happened (at Menudo) and are playing stupid", when asked about abuse allegations by Diaz. He did not, however, mention anything about sexual abuse against him or his Menudo bandmates. "He (Diaz) knows perfectly what happened there", Farrait told the show.^[7]

Former Los Chamos member Gabriel Fernandez, who was allegedly accepted into Menudo once, made similar allegations in 2021.^[8]

In popular culture

Diaz is played by Braulio Castillo, hijo and by Yamil Urena in the 2020 Amazon Prime Video series based on Menudo, "Subete A Mi Moto".^[9]

See also

•  Biography portal

• List of Panamanians
• List of Americans
• List of Puerto Ricans
• Lou Pearlman

References

1. Valdes-Rodriguez, Alisa (16 August 1999). . Sun Sentinel. p. 3D. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
2. Vibe. Vibe Media Group. November 1998. p. 130. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
3. "Primera Presentacion de Menudo y Aquamarina – Show de Tommy (1977)" – via YouTube.
4. ""Estoy muy bien", asegura Braulio Castillo | Escenario | elvocero.com".
5. Simon, Yara (22 October 2014). "Roy Rosello Alleges Former Menudo Manager Abused Him, Had Ricky Martin Dress As Woman". Latin Post. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
6. "Edgardo Díaz responde a ex Menudo Roy Roselló por tildarlo de abusador". Primera Hora (in Spanish). 18 September 2014.
7. (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
8. "Ex Menudo Gabriel Fernández narró una extraña petición de Edgardo Díaz: "estaba necesitado de cariño"".
9. . tvynovelas.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020.